


She Used To Be Mine

by ifiOnlyhadmorePaper



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Divorce, Endgame Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, F/F, F/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-06 08:15:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20288299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifiOnlyhadmorePaper/pseuds/ifiOnlyhadmorePaper
Summary: Takes place after PP3Similar to, but not the same as Three's A Crowd or The Time After It's Gone.





	She Used To Be Mine

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a minute since I've created anything and I feel really good about this story.

* * *

A light breeze floated through the open patio door, as Chloe sat at her dinner table. Her feet ached and her shoulders slumped forward, she felt exactly how her mother would after coming home from work. Tired and weary, with the same worn down expression cast over her face like a shadow, she stared down hard at the magazine in front of her. 

And there she was.

Chloe let her fingers trace her face and the corners of her mouth tugged up as if to smile, but then her eyes danced over the bright neon lettering. _ "Divorce confirmed! Beca and Luca Labelle are split up, but what about the family?" _ Her blood ran cold and her eyes nearly bulged out of her head, she quickly flipped to page six to read whatever gossip was there. Even though not all of it may be true, she had to know. _ "Beca and Luca (BeLuca) began dating after Beca's first solo performance at the 2017 USO Tour / hosted by DJ Khaled / and had gotten engaged after only eight months, though it was a year long engagement. Talk about starting off hot and heavy!" _ Chloe grimaced at the author's choice of words. She'd rather not think of Beca and Luca doing _ anything _ hot and heavy, thank you. _ "Around the same time as the wedding, Beca was seen sporting a baby bump and five months later Margot René Labelle was born!" _ Pain radiated from the hole in Chloe's heart as she read the rest of the article. 

_ "Through four years of marriage, twenty-nine year old mother, Beca Mitchell, and husband, Luca Labelle, call it quits. 'I love Luca, but we were never meant for do or die,' Says Beca. 'But I wouldn't have asked for anything to change and I do not regret the time I spent making a beautiful family.' Neither Beca or Luca made any further comments." _ And on the side were four pictures of Beca and Luca, before the engagement, after the wedding, after their daughter was born, and a picture of the small family out and about, courtesy of the paparazzi.

Still, after all these years, Chloe felt the same deep pang resonating from inside her. Hearing about Beca getting married had been the most painful news she'd ever received. However, seeing the sonogram picture first nearly ended her.

……

_ "Something's up." Chloe said. _

_ "What do you mean?" Beca giggled. Chloe narrowed her eyes at her and gave her a careful once over, just in case she'd missed something. Not likely though, the two see each other every few months, and Chloe couldn't have missed anything between the wedding two weeks ago and the impromptu visit now. _

_ "You know exactly what I'm talking about, you're all smiley and bubbly, so spill." Chloe replied with a wry smile. _

_ "What, I'm not allowed to be happy?" Chloe shook her head and shoved her by her shoulder. Beca began to laugh and her resolve finally broke, whether by Chloe's stare or her excitement, and she dug into her bag for an envelope. "Okay, okay, okay, here!" She thrust it in Chloe's direction and she could only laugh. _

_ "What is this?" Chloe asked, amused and confused by her best friends behavior. She carefully pulled back the envelope and looked inside. She gently pulled out the thin picture and looked down at it. "No!" Chloe exclaimed. She looked again, and looked back up to Beca. "Are you for serious?" _

_ "Yep!" Beca answered proudly. She stood from the couch and pulled off her hoodie, revealing the small, barely-there-but-noticeable, nineteen week old baby bump. "See?" Chloe immediately reached out to touch and reality came crashing down. First a new love and marriage, but now a baby? All the cards were against her and her missed opportunity. It became permanent. _

_ "Did you tell Luca?" She feigned interest. Beca shook her head and laid her hand over Chloe's. _

_ "I wanted you to know first." _

……

Her eyes stung and she set the magazine aside. It was enough regret for today.

////

She speared her salad with her fork and half-heartedly listened to Aubrey drone on about all the fresh vegetables and fruits at the market in Mykonos. Chloe snapped out of her daze when Aubrey asked, "You know?"

"Hm?" Chloe shook her head and cleared her throat. "Yeah, yeah, of course."

"You weren't listening." Aubrey sighed.

"No, I…" Chloe rubbed her eyes and set her fork down. "Sorry, Brey."

"It's okay." A silence took place and after a beat Aubrey started talking again. "So…" she began, hesitantly. "Did you hear about Beca?" More silence. Chloe swallowed the spit collecting in her mouth and readjusted in her seat.

"Yeah," she answered. "I did." The words hung there, like old party decorations, dulled and barely hanging off the wall.

"I can't imagine what she's going through right now," Chloe gave a noncommittal hum in response. "Must be really difficult for her."

"Yeah…"

"You…" Aubrey started. "You should text her." Chloe considered it again for the millionth time in the two weeks since she heard the news.

"Yeah," she said brightly. "Maybe." She willed her voice to sound full and confident, and not like that's all she could think about.

…….

_ "Chlo?" Four knocks followed and all she could do was roll over and curl into herself underneath the blankets. Hot tears silently trickled down her cheeks and dampened her pillow case. "Chloe? It's Beca, I haven't heard from you in, like, forever, are you in there?" _

_ She couldn't open the door. She couldn't go on the way she was. If only she had caught on earlier she could've had the world, but instead she watched Beca build a world of her own without her. Chloe couldn't spend the rest of her life being in love with Beca Labelle. It was time to let her go. _

_ After forty-five minutes, the knocking and sobbing stopped. It was over. _

……

Neither Aubrey nor Chloe said anything more about Beca.

////

"_'Hey, Beca.'_" Chloe read out loud. She quickly deleted the draft and began again. "_'Hi, Beca. Heard you're back in Cali, I was wondering if you-'_" she frustratedly deleted the message and groaned. "_'If you,' _ what?" She turned the screen off and put her phone in her pocket, as she got out of her car.

Chloe pushed a cart, almost aimlessly through Target. _ Almost_. She made her way to the home decor aisle to browse the throw pillows. "One more can't hurt." She muttered to herself. _ This is what shopping should be_, she thought. _ Just time alone, not with anyone_. Her heart knew the lie like an old friend. She shook her head and kept pushing her cart along after putting a _ "Namaste in Bed" _ pillow in the cart. 

Then she heard it.

"This time maybe I'll be bulletproof…" tears filled her eyes and her chest seized as she listened. She kept pushing her cart and she sniffled. She drew nearer to the small voice from the toy section three aisles down, and she looked in. 

A small brunette girl danced in the middle of the aisle, wearing a pink tutu and holding a plastic microphone in her hand as she mumbled out the lyrics. She watched from the edge of the shelf, and the little girl twirled, but she instantly stopped when she realized she accidentally drew in an audience. 

Chloe's face split into a grin as she clapped. "That was so good!" The young girl blushed and looked down at the floor. Before she could ask the little girl for her name, Chloe heard who she could only assume was her mother calling from another side of the shelves. 

"Baby? Where are you?" Frantic footsteps came from around the corner and Chloe gasped. "There you are! I see you found yourself a microphone!"

There Beca Labelle stood at the opposite end of the aisle, with the young girl. Her _ daughter_.

"Yeah, mommy! It's super, mega loud." As Margot was hoisted into Beca's arms, she suddenly froze when she realized Chloe was there in front of her.

"Chloe," Beca inhaled deeply and sighed as she acknowledged her.

"Beca," her name felt very foreign, rolling off Chloe's tongue. "It's been a while." Chloe noticed the way her jaw clenched and her steely eyes burned into her.

"Yeah, it has." She adjusted Margot on her hip and cleared her throat. "We should be on our way, but…" her eyes softened and she looked at Chloe with sad and disappointed eyes that made her heart ache. "It was good to see you."

"Yeah," Chloe's throat felt thick and she rapidly blinked away tears. "You too."

As Beca walked away from her, Chloe let her eyes fall down into her cart to see the pillow and the coffee she'd absentmindedly grabbed off the shelves. 

Chloe doesn't drink coffee.

////

"Why is your face like that?" Aubrey asked after five minutes since answering Chloe's Skype call. Her knee bounced rhythmically, and if she thought hard enough about it her knee was making sixteenth notes.

"I did it."

"Did what?"

"I texted her." Chloe looked up at the computer and looked Aubrey dead in the eye. Aubrey's face shifted into something between concern and anxiety.

"What did she say?"

"I haven't looked yet." Chloe replied, looking down at her phone. She tapped the screen, and saw the notification waiting patiently, mocking her from her lock screen. 

"Why?" Tears welled in her eyes.

"I'm scared."

……

_ "Bonjour!" A green eyed, brunette man stood alongside her best friend. His tall, slender form towered over Beca's. _

_ "Who's this?" Chloe asked as they approached her in the lobby of the hotel. _

_ "This is Luca, I met him last night at the party." She giggled. Beca Mitchell giggled. Chloe stared at both of them, with a rather large, uncomfortable smile, lost on what to say. _

_ "Hi, Luca…" he shook her hand, she tried not analyze too hard. "I'm Chloe, Beca's best friend." _

_ "Pleasure." He grinned and let go, and then he proceeded to kiss the top of Beca's head and pull her closer to him. _

_ "Chloe!" Just as her heart began to sink, Chicago appeared from behind her as Theo whisked Beca away, of course dragging Luca with them. _

……

"Just open it, what's the worst thing that she could say?" Aubrey asked. Chloe had about a hundred things Beca could say that would absolutely kill her, but she thought it best not voice the negatives.

With a shaky hand, Chloe reached out and unlocked her phone, and delved straight into her messages. "Oh," Chloe said breathlessly.

"What did she say?"

"'_Sure, I know a place.'" _ Chloe breathed out. The pressure lifted from her chest, but a new one burrowed into her ribs.

////

Chloe waited in a diner, in a secluded booth in the corner near the window. She adjusted the place mat for the millionth time and swiped her finger up her water glass, taking the condensation with her. The bell jingled and Chloe sat up right, and adjusted her scrubs. Beca walked through, alone - Chloe noted - and the hostess pointed her over in Chloe's direction. She wore a black shirt with flowers and fuchsia heels that clacked through all the tables, turning the heads of every curious and knowing patron. 

"Hello," She sat on the opposite side of the table and set her purse down. "Sorry I'm late, I had a few errands to run before we met." They way she laid her forearms down in front of her prompted Chloe to begin speaking.

"It's fine, I haven't been here long." She lied. She'd been there for thirty minutes, having arrived twenty minutes earlier to mentally prepare. "How have you been?" Chloe asked. Beca challengingly quirked an eyebrow, as if to make a sarcastic comment, but she just flexed her fingers. 

"I've been okay, I've been pretty busy with work and life, you know."

"Yeah…" she awkwardly agreed. She wondered if it would be inappropriate to ask about Margot, but just as she thought about it the waitress came.

"Welcome to Little Annie's! My name is Hope, I'll be your server today," she refilled Chloe's water glass and looked between them with an eager smile. "Can I start you off with anything to drink?"

"Can I have a ginger ale, please?" 

"Of course! I'll have that right out for you." she quickly scribbled on her notepad, and scurried off to the other side of the restaurant.

"Ginger ale?" Chloe asked as soon as Hope was out of sight. "You always get a Coke." Her throat felt thick as she remembered her old habit.

"Yeah," Beca sighed. "Margot was a little sick earlier this week and I think I caught her little bug." Chloe sat back into her seat, and cleared her throat.

"She must be a handful." 

"Oh, yeah. Sometimes I'm convinced there's three of her, kid gives me so much whiplash." Chloe laughed and for the first time since walking into the diner, Beca smiled as she talked about her daughter. "She's a good kid, though."

"Well, if she's anything like you, of course she is." Chloe stiffened as the words were put out there, unsure of what Beca's reaction would be. But then Beca offered her a small smile and nodded her head.

"Thank you." Before either of them could say anything else, Hope was back with her drink and took their order.

Chloe left for work after the diner, with a little bit more bounce in her step.

////

Chloe had been on a high all week since their meeting. And then later, she received a text that read _ "I'm glad we could catch up." _ And Chloe was ecstatic no matter how many times she tried to "act cool." Her thumbs currently hovered over her keyboard, waiting to fire off a text, having lost all sense of confidence. She had no reason to ask to see Beca again, other than wanting to, which was already very dangerous for her.

"_'Hey, Beca. I'm over my hours at work, I have the day to myself, do you want to meet up again?'_" Chloe reread and reread about half a dozen times before hitting send. 

She ignored the swooping feeling in her gut.

//// 

"She did not!" Chloe laughed.

"Yes, she did." Beca grinned and nodded, and then slightly grimaced.

"I can't believe she slapped her swim teacher." Chloe said, in awe of Beca's story about Margot.

"I know, but honestly, lady had it coming. I mean, who just dunks kids under the water without warning?" She laughed, and the air between them was light, but then Beca's phone began to ring. Chloe watched her demeanor change as she looked down at the screen. "Um, I gotta take this…" 

"Oh yeah, go ahead." Beca awkwardly bowed her head and stood from the bench and took three steps away.

"Bonjour? Je viens de rencontrer un vieil ami, avez-vous besoin de quelque chose? Je suis un peu occupé en ce moment." Beca's eyes darted to Chloe's and she quickly looked away as she walked up to a tree about six feet away from the bench. Chloe bit her lip and fought the urge to eavesdrop on the conversation, if only to hear Beca speak french. There was only one person who she knew Beca would be speaking French with and the thought reintroduced a familiar but unwelcome green color.

……

_ Chloe's portable coffee mug dropped with a loud thud, and her jaw nearly tumbled along after it. "What?" She asked, even though Beca's announcement echoed in her ears. _

_ "I'm engaged!" She held her left hand up, showcasing the pristine diamond on her finger. "Luca proposed!" Chloe swallowed and frowned deeply. _

_ "No, I heard that, but so soon?" Chloe wished she could've taken her words back as soon as she said them after watching Beca's face fall so quickly. _

_ "What?" Her voice was so small, but for some unsolicited reason, she kept talking. _

_ "Don't get me wrong, Luca's… great," she forced out. "But it's only been eight months and things have really… changed for you." _

_ "Well, yeah…" Beca looked down at the floor, then the walls, anywhere except Chloe's face. "But I'm getting married, why aren't you happy for me?" _

_ Then it hit Chloe like a freight train, in bulky, bold letters in her head; Because I love you. _

_"I am!" She tried to recover, ignoring the pain around the words. _

…...

Chloe tried instead to listen to the wind softly blowing through the leaves of the trees and the young boys across the field whooping and playing basketball. It was a nice day out, she spied a few elderly women doing Thai Chi and a jogger jogging past the bench she was sitting at and up to the crosswalk. She only tuned into the conversation as Beca made her way back. "'Kay, bye." She watched Beca's shoulders sag forward as she sat back down. "Sorry about that." Chloe angled her body toward her, and she nervously twiddled her fingers in her lap.

"Is everything okay?" Beca's eyes flickered over to hers for a moment before settling back on the boys across the field.

"Yeah, just…" she trailed off and yawned. "Tired, sorry."

"Well, we've been here for a while, maybe you should go home and rest." Chloe offered. Beca made no signs of protest and nodded her head.

"Yeah, I should go, Maggie is probably waiting for me to get back." She stood from the bench and glanced over at Chloe. "This was nice…" 

"Yeah…" Chloe stood from her spot on the bench and began to fish her car keys out of her purse. 

"We should do it again sometime..." Beca yawned again, stretching her arms wide and then tall above her head.

"For sure." Chloe nodded once, firmly, offering a sunny smile. Beca's mouth twitched up slightly and her eyes displayed a friendlier disposition than earlier, during the phone call. The two stood staring at each other before Beca put her sunglasses back on and sighed.

"Well, I'm gonna head out, I'll see you."

"I'll see you."

"Bye, Chloe." They parted ways, but every so often, Chloe looked over her shoulder to ensure that Beca made it to her car.

////

Chloe sat in a plush armchair, playing with a string beside her thigh, as her therapist, Julie, opened her notepad. "Okay, last session you told me you were feeling very 'out of it,'" she read off the page. "Because Beca was getting divorced. How are we doing since then?"

"I'm good, I'm good…" Chloe's mind was still reeling about the whole situation. "I, um, I actually ran into her at Target."

"Oh? And how did that go over?"

"It went okay, it just was a little overwhelming, you know? Seeing her face to face after…" she shook her head and leaned her cheek against her fist, feeling her eyes begin to fill. "After everything, but I messaged her." 

"And what did you say?" Julie's glasses were perched on the tip of her nose, and her hand was ready to scrawl out notes.

"I asked her to catch up, and we did. It went better than expected, we even met a second time, and we might meet again soon."

"That's wonderful news, Chloe." She nodded and bit her thumb. Julie cleared her throat and pushed her glasses back up. "Has she asked about why you left?"

"No, she hasn't. Not yet."

"Do you still love her?" Her heart clenched and it was suddenly very hard to breathe.

"No," she lied. She didn't know how to properly answer that question yet. _ I don't think I ever stopped, to be honest. _ "I don't."

"Okay," Julie wrote something down and carried on with regular conversation.

Chloe left with an even more muddled mind than she walked in with.

////

"Beca wants to meet at her apartment." Aubrey hummed, not quite understanding the seriousness of the situation.

"And the problem is?"

"It's her _ apartment_, Brey." The silence from the other line conveyed to Chloe that Aubrey still didn't understand. "The place where she _ lives._" Beca had texted Chloe that their next meeting would have to be at her apartment because she felt under the weather.

"Yes, Chloe, I know what an apartment is." Chloe clicked her tongue and huffed. "Just what is the big deal? I don't understand."

"Yeah, clearly." Chloe frustratedly ran her hand through her hair. "I don't know, I think I'm just freaking out."

"Yeah, a little bit, but relax. Isn't this a good thing?" _ I don't know. _

"Yeah," Chloe said. "Yeah, it is."

////

Chloe knocked and waited patiently outside the door. She waved at an old woman coming out her apartment, and then the door opened. Beca answered in sleep shorts and an old, faded band t-shirt. "Hey,"

"Hey," Chloe smiled, as Beca opened the door wider and she walked in.

"Sorry about the mess, certain little girls thought it'd be cool to play with _ all the toys _ before school." Chloe laughed at the assortment of books, and stuffed animals, and a few Tonka trucks, across the living room rug.

"It's all good, I don't mind." She sat on the couch and Beca followed. "Feeling any better?"

"Yeah, actually, just super exhausted though." Beca stood from the couch and looked to Chloe. "Can I get you anything to drink? I have some soda, mineral water, sweet tea, _ regular _ water?"

"Water would be good." Beca nodded once firmly and disappeared into the kitchen. The apartment was a decent size, smaller than what she imagined, but Beca was never one for very big and lavish things so it made sense. Chloe looked around the small entertainment center. There was a drawing of a stick figure family - Chloe assumed it was them - in a frame and a dinosaur coin bank beside it. Beca's infamous shelf of records stood beside the TV, and pictures of the Bellas and her daughter littered the rest of the shelves and blank spaces on the walls. 

It was all just so Beca, but with a warmer filter. 

Beca walked back from the kitchen with a glass of water, as she very strategically stepped through all the toys. "Here you go." She passed Chloe her water and when she began to sit down, Chloe's breath caught in her throat when she watched the light hit her navy eyes.

"Thank you." Chloe quickly took a drink, and tried not to let her eyes wander, but failed anyway. Beca's face was free of any makeup, but there was a soft glow on her face. "So, preschool huh? How's that going?"

"It's going," Beca nodded her head thoughtfully. "She has two best friends, one of them is Bella, but she pretty much gets along with everybody except one kid, but he's a real pill." 

"That's good, that's good."

"And what about you? How's work?" 

"It's great, I love it so much, it was definitely worth going _ back _ to school for." Beca laughed and nodded approvingly.

"I'm glad you-" all of the sudden, Beca's eyes grew big, and she bolted to the bathroom.

The rest of the afternoon carried on until Chloe had to go to work and Beca had to collect Margot from school.

////

The clinking of silverware and glasses echoed over the dull chatter of the diner. Beca sat across from her with a steaming cup of tea nestled in her hands. "I have a question," Beca prompted. Chloe drank her orange juice and raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Why?"

"'Why,' what?" She knew what Beca was asking. Eight weeks of catch up lunches and meaningless, shallow small talk, and finally Beca asked.

"Why did you cut me off?" 

"I…" Chloe started. "Do you want the truth?" Beca made a "duh" face and waited. "I… I was in love with you." The neutral expression on Beca's face shattered.

"What?" She asked in a small voice.

"I was in love with you, and you were with Luca and then you got pregnant." Chloe cleared her throat, feeling her mouth go dry. "I couldn't watch." Beca closed her eyes and put her mug down. She stared down at the steam and Chloe waited for her to digest everything.

"How long?" Beca's eyes finally met Chloe's, they were sad and guilty.

"I don't know, always?" Chloe answered honestly. It was never clear, the timeline of when she fell in love, but she suspected it happened at the very beginning.

"Why…" Beca swallowed and a tear streamed out of her eye, making Chloe desperately want to reach out. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I was afraid." Chloe didn't realize that she was also crying, until a tear dropped splashed onto the top of her hand.

"We could've worked it out."

"Beca," Chloe choked out. "Look at me and tell me that you wouldn't have run away if I told you." Beca only stared at her, and wiped her eyes. A moment passed and their server came to set their meals down. Beca cleared her throat and Chloe's eyes were back on her.

"Do you still? Love me, I mean?" Chloe's heart sank as her answer left her mouth.

"No," she offered a sad smile and shook her head, even though that wasn't the answer she wanted to give. "I don't." Something flickered over Beca's eyes, it was gone as soon as it came, so Chloe dismissed it as nothing.

They ate their respective meals and parted. No plans were made to meet again.

////

Chloe stared at her ceiling and let out a slow and heavy sigh. It's been five days since their last meeting. Since Chloe told her. There had been no word from her since then, and just as she thought, telling her had been the worst decision she'd ever made because now Beca was gone for good. No second chances.

Then, from beside her, her phone screen lit up, followed by a vibration. A notification for a text message sat on her screen until it blackened. Chloe didn't want to move. It buzzed again and this time, Chloe glanced over through her side eye.

Her resolve broke and she brought her phone over her face and read the text. It was from Beca.

_ Beca (to Chloe) 2:30 PM: hey. I'm sorry that I caused so much pain. I never meant to hurt you, but I did. _

_ Beca (to Chloe) 2:32 PM: I still want to be friends, if you're interested. _

////

Chloe adjusted the strap of her bag, as it hung across her torso, and she walked along the sidewalk, trying to spot Beca. They were trying the whole friends thing one more time and it was actually going really well, even though there was this thing attached to her heart that wasn't quite identifiable, she didn't want to figure out if it was anything other than friendship. She was fine not knowing. 

"Chloe, hey!" Chloe looked in the direction the voice came from and saw Beca sitting on a bench.

"Hey," she walked over to the bench and plopped down beside her. 

"I brought Maggie, I hope you don't mind, they cancelled school 'cause there was a bunch of students out with lice." Beca scrunched her nose and Chloe grimaced.

"Gross." 

"Yeah…"

"Where is she?" Chloe had never officially met Beca's daughter, and a small buzz of excitement buzzed through her as she scanned the crowd of children.

"You know, that's probably a good question…" Beca trailed off. Chloe amusedly watched her look for her daughter. "Maggie!" Beca called. Two minutes passed and the small girl didn't show. "Margot!" Beca tried again and still no answer. Chloe watched as Beca stood from her seat, stuck her index finger and thumb in her mouth, and whistled as loud as she could. All the kids stopped playing, even a few parents froze completely. "Margot René!"

Then, the small girl came running to the bench with a big smile and very sandy pants. "Mommy!" She leapt into Beca's arms, and the whole scene made Chloe feel warm.

"You scared me, pretty girl." She set her down and when Margot noticed that Chloe was sitting next to Beca, she cowered behind her and hid. "Mags, this is mommy's friend, can you say hi?"

"Hi," Margot said shyly. Chloe waved and grinned.

"Hey, Margot, I'm Chloe." The young girl came out just a little bit more and stood closer, with pink cheeks and a timid expression. 

"Mommy, can I go play now?" She tugged at Beca's jean jacket and she laughed.

"You can go, but-" Margot began running as soon as Beca gave her permission. "Stay where I can see you, please!" Beca yelled after her. She sighed and Chloe giggled. "Damn kid."

"She seems sweet." Chloe replied, honestly. She could see a very kind and thoughtful girl behind the quiet and reserved front. Just like Beca.

"Just wait."

////

Margot was a puzzle, Chloe discovered - much like her mother. Though she hasn't said much to Chloe in the last two visits, at times it felt like Chloe would finally break through her stoic face and finally get something of a small smirk. By the next visit, it was gone and back to square one. Chloe didn't mind, though. It gave her something else to focus on.

"So, how… are you feeling?" Aubrey asked. There was an obvious undertone to the question, but Chloe ignored it.

"I'm feeling okay," she mumbled around her toothbrush. "It's nice to be friends again."

"That's nice…" Aubrey trailed off, leaving her "light hearted" hum open for Chloe's interpretation.

"It is." Chloe agreed, after she spit into the sink. Aubrey stayed silent until Chloe sighed and clicked her tongue. "Is there something you'd like to ask me?" 

"How are you _ feeling _ though?" She put emphasis on "feeling" and Chloe rolled her eyes so hard, she could've gone blind.

"Fine, Brey." She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and took the phone to her room. 

"That's what you tell me." Aubrey's voice implied things Chloe did not want to address until a later date or possibly never.

"And that's what I'll keep telling you."

"Okay…" Aubrey said in a sing-song voice.

……

_ "What's going on with you two?" Aubrey asked in an accusing voice. Chloe looked at her, confused by the question. _

_ "Who?" Chloe asked as she ate another spoonful of fro-yo. _

_ "You and Beca, who else?" Aubrey deadpanned. _

_ "Nothing, why?" _

_ "I don't know, you're both very… chummy." _

_ "Chummy? What do you mean?" Chloe asked. _

_ "I don't know, never mind." _

……

There wasn't much else to say after.

////

Chloe waited patiently at the door, when it opened she expected to see Beca but instead she saw little Margot staring up at her with big navy eyes. "Hey, little girl, can I come in?" She nodded slightly and stepped aside, Chloe frowned as she walked through the entryway. Usually Beca answered the door. As she stepped further into the living room, she heard furious and harsh whispering. 

"Vous ne pouvez pas simplement dire des choses comme ça." Beca was leaning against the couch, with her back facing Chloe. "J'aurai toute mon équipe juridique après toi," Chloe watched as Beca began to pace the length of the couch. "Et je sais qu'elle est aussi ta fille, mais tu aurais dû y penser avant-" she stopped suddenly as soon as Chloe caught her eye.

"I gotta go." She hung up and wiped her eyes, they were wet and red. "Hey, Chlo-" a loud crash came from a room in the back. Beca moved to go check, but Chloe set her hand out, wanting to just take care of her. 

"I'll go see."

"Thanks." She sniffled. Chloe took one last glance as Beca wandered off to the kitchen. Her heart hurt for the woman.

Chloe walked into Margot's room. There was a tub of Legos and Mega Blocks strewn across the floor. Margot sat on the bed, looking down at her hands, sullenly. "Hey there, little girl." She sat down next to her on her hot air balloon comforter. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she looked up at Chloe and back down. "Mommy's gonna be mad."

"Why do you think that?" Chloe asked.

"She sounds mad, I think she's mad at me." 

"She's not mad at you, but you know what I think?" Chloe scooted off the bed and onto the floor. "I think if we just hurry to pick it all up, she'll be so happy!" She whispered conspiratorially. 

Chloe challenged Margot to a put-the-blocks-away-as-fast-as-you-can race, and pulled the first laugh and smile out of her.

////

Halloween came fast and totally out of nowhere. Chloe remembered just yesterday, she went for a walk in the hot sun and all the trees and leaves were green and full of life, and there were so many vibrant colors, but now the colors have slightly dulled and turned into something warmer even though the weather was just a tad bit more chilly.

Margot had warmed up to Chloe, she even greeted her willingly. She couldn't be more happy, and as for Beca. Something was going on, other than work stress and now single parent stress, she seemed more vulnerable than Chloe had ever seen her. It was easy to blame it on the divorce, but there was _ something _ and Chloe knew it.

She walked through the door of The Alchemist, a bar downtown, and as she walked through looking for Beca and Amy, on her way she passed a skeleton, a zombie, and _ Magic Mike_. Finally, she spotted Beca sitting at a barstool, dressed as _ Indiana Jones_. "Hey,"

"Let me guess…" Beca narrowed her eyes and stared at her, trying to figure out what Chloe was dressed as. "Counting… Crows?"

"Yeah!" Chloe exclaimed. She twirled in a circle and took off her black, feathered masquerade mask and set down her number flash cards. "So clever, Becs." She couldn't catch her tongue fast enough to stop the pet name, but she showed no discomfort when Beca's face remained casual and friendly. "Where's Amy?" 

"Late-"

"Late-" they both said simultaneously. They chuckled and Chloe pushed her hair back behind her ear. She could feel her cheeks heating up, and then a waitress appeared from behind Beca.

"Hey, ladies, happy halloween! Can I get you anything to drink?" Chloe didn't miss the way the waitress was staring directly at Beca when she asked. She obviously knew who she was. The idea of someone hitting on her made her want to growl like a rabid beast, but Chloe contained herself for the sake of her own dignity.

"Can I have a tonic with lime, and a rum and Coke for my friend?" While Chloe was pleased that Beca remembered her order, she was shocked that she didn't get an alcoholic drink, but it most likely had to do with the fact that she does have a daughter now.

"Sure thing, and let me know if you need _ anything_, okay?" Beca nodded and as the waitress began to walk away, she suggestively squeezed Beca's bicep. 

Chloe wanted to rip into her and demand another server.

"She was nice." Chloe said in an overly peppy voice. Beca chuckled uncomfortably and wrung her hands in her lap. "So, is Margot gonna be back after trick-or-treating?"

"No, actually, she's having a sleepover with Bella." Chloe made a mental note of that too.

"Oh that's cool." 

"Here you go, sugar." The waitress came back and set the drinks down.

"Thanks." Chloe deadpanned, making her presence _ very _known. She eyed Chloe before she left and Chloe's intense glare didn't back down and it held out till she left. After she was gone, Chloe glanced over to Beca, just as she took a drink. She watched Beca, curiously, as she nearly did a spit take. "Everything okay?" She asked as Beca spit back into the cup. She reached over to pat her back.

"They put gin in this." Beca grimaced. She wiped her mouth with the napkin that was under the glass. "I can't drink this." 

"Are you driving tonight?" Chloe asked curiously.

"No."

"It should be okay then, right?" Chloe hoped to God that Beca just developed an allergy to gin or something equally as bizarre but plausible. Anything, just so Chloe could be reassured that Beca was not a prissy celebrity like in tabloid stories.

Beca just looked at her, her face unreadable, and her fingers twitching around her glass. "No, I can't drink." Chloe frowned and was confused by how adamant Beca seemed about not drinking. "I'm… I'm pregnant, Chloe."

"Oh," Chloe felt as if she were free falling back into the past, but where instead of joy there was only fear and worry on Beca's face, and Chloe's heart fiercely throbbed with pain but for different reasons.

……

_ "What's wrong?' Stacie asked from the other side of the bed. Chloe kept her back to her, as she stared at the wall. She hadn't been out in three days since Beca told her she was pregnant. The announcement was out, the only thing on social media was Beca and Luca's announcement and a picture of her belly with a pink heart painted on. She was having a girl. _

_ "Beca's pregnant." Chloe mumbled just loud enough for Stacie to hear her. _

_ "I know, I heard, everyone's talking about it." Stacie said excitedly. The tone winded back down when she asked, "Are you excited?" _

_ "No." _

_ "What? Why?" Stacie asked, with an incredulous voice. Chloe could bet that if she turned around, Stacie's face would lie between anger, shock, and concern. Chloe rolled over and looked at her, her heart bled onto the sheets and tears filled her eyes. _

_ "I love her." _

……

Chloe's reason still rang true in her ears, and hurt reflected on her face and she knew Beca couldn't tell why, but that killed her even more than the truth she'd buried so deep, deep, down. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Chloe answered breathlessly. "How far along?"

"Three months now, I-"

"What's up, pitches!" Amy burst through the crowd, dressed as Ursula, already holding a drink, and brandishing a large, excited smile with a hint of underlying mischievousness.

"Amy!" Both Beca and Chloe were pulled into a massive hug, and Chloe looked over at Beca from Amy's other shoulder and the look on her face told her that they wouldn't be finishing the conversation that night.

////

Chloe revelled in feeling of the wind rushing past her face and blowing up her hair. As soon as she reached the bottom of the slide, she began to run, and not too long after, she heard small footsteps coming fast on her tail. Chloe looked back to see Margot, with a huge grin, laughing as she chased after Chloe. Thanksgiving was coming and Beca wanted to hang out before she and Margot left for Seattle.

Chloe felt overwhelming joy, having watched Margot open up to her and come out of her shell was something beautiful.

She tiredly walked up to the bench, as Margot ran to hide somewhere, she saw Beca's eyes tracking her every move. Chloe sat down and caught her breath. She could still feel Beca's eyes on her, she glanced over, and a very soft and warm smile was being aimed at her, but Chloe couldn't imagine why. Her imagination was too torturous for that. Chloe hadn't seen that look on Beca's face in such a long time. "What?" Chloe asked curiously, through a chuckle.

"Nothing." Beca hummed and looked back out to the playground. 

Margot's head popped out of a tube and Chloe began running again, and each time she turned around, she would catch Beca watching them.

////

Chloe walked through the grocery store, to the beat of _ Jingle Bell Rock_, as she pulled a carton of eggnog from the dairy section. Christmas season was cheery and merry, like always, decorations were being put up - if they weren't already - and every department store had floods of people doing late Christmas shopping. Chloe's local grocery store perpetually smelled of gingerbread during winter, and she couldn't get enough of it.

……

_ The afternoon light poured in through the window, as Chloe wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her wrist. She almost immediately returned her hand back to the rolling pin in front of her. Making gingerbread houses were one thing, but making them from scratch was something different. _

_ Just as she was about to pull out the stencil for the walls of the house, the front door unlocked and Beca walked through with a sore, red nose and a glove hanging from between her teeth. _

_ "Did you get it?" Chloe asked Beca excitedly, as she dusted her hands on her apron. Beca took the glove from her mouth and cast it aside, onto the dining table. _

_ "No, Chlo, I just drove around for six hours and got a smoothie." Beca deadpanned. "Yes, I got it, Benji and Jesse are bringing it in." _

_ "Ha ha, Beca." Chloe rolled her eyes, but she couldn't even pretend to be bothered at this point, she was so excited. _

_ "A 'thank you' would be nice," Beca sighed. She leaned against the island and put a red gumdrop in her mouth. "It's not like I borrowed Robbie's truck and drove three hours from campus to get a big ass Balsam-whatever-it's-called for you, or anything." Beca smiled wryly at Chloe, with sarcasm all over her face. "Nope, not me." _

……

Chloe smiled to herself and pushed her cart to checkout. 

////

Chloe's eyebrows flew up to her forehead and her jaw went slack. "Um-"

"I get it if it's weird, or whatever, but it's just a play date with Bella and Stacie, I just- I have a huge fire to put out here." Beca spoke frantically, and Chloe could imagine her scrunched up face and her hand frustratedly going through her hair.

"Yeah," Chloe blurted out. "Yeah, yeah, I can do that, I get out in thirty minutes, can you hold on till then?"

"Shit…" Beca hissed. "I gotta- I don't think I can-"

"Wait, wait, why don't you just…" Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, trying to pull a solution out of thin air, and then she opened them to see the rolling chair in the corner of the office. "Why don't you just drop her off here, it's just thirty minutes right?"

"Are you sure? Can I do that?"

"Yes, yeah, for sure-"

"Oh my god, thank you!"

"No problem."

////

Chloe walked alongside Stacie, as the two occasionally peeked over at the girls on the playground. Beca dropped Margot off half an hour ago, and the suggestive look on Stacie's face when Chloe arrived with Margot instead made her cheeks hot. 

////

Chloe watched Beca from her dining table as she carried Margot to her spare bedroom. She had fallen asleep watching _ Up_, her favorite movie, and Chloe asked Beca to stay for wine - milk and _ Oreos _ for Beca - as friends, of course.

"Thank god for _ Pixar_." Beca groaned as she sat back down on the couch. Her small belly was starting to show more and more each day, Chloe watched and a part of her that she did not want to acknowledge wanted to be selfish with her. She opened the package of cookies and took out a whole sleeve, feeling Beca's scrutinizing gaze on her. 

That happened a lot lately, more and more Chloe would look over and already find Beca looking at her. Beca was never even apologetic or awkward about it either, all she did was smile back, and Chloe tried her very best to ignore the bubbly feeling in her stomach. "How's the baby doing?" Chloe asked, as she handed Beca her milk and cookies.

"_He_," Beca emphasised. "Is doing pretty good." Chloe grinned like a crescent moon, she put her hand out to feel her growing stomach, ignoring the sick sense of deja vu she felt.

"You're having a boy!" Chloe gushed. Beca nodded with a smile of her own, but it quickly began to fade. Chloe grasped her fingers and looked into her teary blue eyes. "What's wrong, Becs?" She sniffled and dabbed at her eyes to keep the tears from falling.

"Luca," she sighed. "It's Luca." Beca might as well have said "activate instant kill." Because Chloe was ready to stand in front of Beca and do anything in her power to fix the frown on her face. 

And she ignored how crazy that sounded for someone who is _ just friends _ with someone else.

"What did he do?" Chloe asked as calmly and gently as she could.

"He tried to threaten a custody battle for Margot, and then I told him I was pregnant again, and now he wants them both." Beca scoffed and wiped her angry tears away. "But that's not fair, he was barely home at all, always making excuses, I did most of the work! And he was out with-" Beca's resolve broke and her breath caught with a sob. Chloe bit the inside of her cheek to keep her composure. "With _ her_." 

"He cheated?" Chloe asked, confusedly.

"Oh-ho, yeah." Beca laughed humorlessly. "Multiple times." She looked at Chloe with a serious face and with a steady voice she began to speak again. "You can't tell anybody, we left that part out on purpose for Margot's sake, and if they hear about it-" Chloe held her hand up and smile sadly at her.

"I won't, you have my word." Beca stuck her pinky out and Chloe wrapped hers around it. Chloe looked deep into her eyes, and it seemed like time had stopped, and the world stopped revolving, as they began to lean in, but then the small sound of shuffling little feet broke their bubble.

"I want _ Oreos_!"

////

Neither Chloe nor Beca acknowledged their little "moment" the previous weekend. _It probably wasn't anything anyway,_ Chloe thought. It was New Year's Eve, all the Bellas had flown in from their homes to celebrate the tenth year anniversary of knowing each other. Margot and Bella stayed with Cynthia Rose's wife, Aniyah, and their two year old daughter, Suraya, so Stacie and Beca were also able to participate in the lunacy.

"Why aren't you taking shots, Beca?" Amy yelled over the commotion. "You have to get on my level!" Chloe watched as she merely assaulted Beca in an effort to get her drunk.

"I think I'd get cirrhosis on your level, dude." Beca batted away the shot and looked at Chloe for help. Chloe smirked and shrugged, knowing there wasn't much she could do to stop her. Beca rolled her eyes playfully and hopped off her stool and marched over to the speaker in the corner, that played some of her old mixes from Barden. Chloe watched Beca bravely unplug the speaker, and the whole party went quiet as she turned on the light.

"Why'd you stop the music, B?" Cynthia Rose asked.

"Is there something wrong?" Emily asked, sharing the same concerned expression as Aubrey and Stacie.

"No, no," Beca shook her head with a soft smile. Her eyes drifted over to Chloe and Chloe quickly looked away. "There's just something I want to tell you guys." All of them formed a half circle in front of Beca. "I'm not drinking because…" Chloe didn't even notice how she floated to Beca's side, but it made it possible for Chloe to put her hand at the small of her back. "Because I'm pregnant."

"O-M-Aca-G!" Emily squealed. The rest of the excitedly reached out to touch Beca's stomach and badger her with questions. Chloe stood by, smiling amusedly. It didn't take long for her to notice Beca had linked their hands together.

////

Chloe brought both her hands up to knock on Beca's door, clad in green scrubs and a messy bun, holding a bag of junk food in the crease of her elbow. Her knuckles knocked five times and then two extra times for good measure. The door swung open and the first thing she saw was not Beca's stormy blue eyes or a three feet and one inch tall "Ballerina Princess Warrior," but instead, green eyes that belonged to none other than Luca Labelle.

"Luca," Chloe's eyes were wide, but she spied Beca's brown hair behind him, coming to the door.

"Yes, that's me… who-" his accent was thick with confusion. 

"Hey," Beca pushed Luca's hand from the door knob and opened it wider so that Chloe was able to come in. She wordlessly passed by Luca, and stared at Beca as if asking for an explanation. "Luca was just leaving."

"What? What do you mean?" He asked with an awkward chuckle. "Surely, whoever this person is can reschedule-"

"This is my best friend Chloe, but of course, I didn't expect you to remember that." Chloe smiled victoriously, but it only lasted for a second because Margot came running up to her to wrap her legs in a hug. 

"Chloe!"

"Hey, little girl! How we doin'?" Chloe crouched down beside her and listened to her tell her about school. 

"You can see yourself out of the building, right?" Chloe heard Beca ask, with a slightly bitter undertone.

"Yes," Luca spared one hard stare in Chloe's direction and then looked back to Beca. "I can." He crouched down to say bye to Margot. "Bye, my lovely."

"Bye, daddy!" Margot waved frantically at him and then immediately returned to her enthusiastic recap about the sea animals she learned about. "And then Ms. Patt said that there's _so_ _many_ _Nemos_!" 

After she heard the door close, Chloe momentarily glanced up from a drawing Margot was showing her, to see Beca watching her and Margot from the hall with a soft smile on her face.

"Best friend," Beca had said. Chloe grinned to herself and tried to ignore the blank space on her heart.

////

"So, you're telling them this weekend?" Chloe asked, as she chopped tomatoes, with her phone tucked between her ear and her shoulder.

"Yeah, now that I'm kind of out of the woods…" Beca sighed on the other line. "I'm just kind of scared, you know?"

"Yeah, but it's just your parents, if anything, they will be your number one supporters." Chloe scraped the tomatoes off the cutting board with her knife, and listened to the loud sizzle they made in the skillet.

"Yeah, I know…" Beca cleared her throat and the line was silent for a minute.

"What are you thinking?" Chloe asked after the silence became unbearable. The water distracted her from the warm feelings swimming around in her chest.

"That you should come with me because you don't want me to spontaneously combust?" Chloe laughed and grabbed the phone and leaned back on the counter.

"You know if you just asked me like a _ normal _ person, I would've still said yeah." Chloe teased.

"Hm, maybe you from 2012 should take a page from your book." Beca fired back.

"I already apologized for being so…"

"Weird?"

"I was going to say 'enthusiastic,'"

////

It seemed like Beca's stomach grew overnight, her lazy t-shirt fit her perfectly instead of the baggy comfort she was used to. Chloe thought - though she would never say it out loud - it was cute when her little tummy peeked out from under her shirt when she would reach up.

But now, as they approached the restaurant, Chloe watched Beca's face morph into something pale and anxious. She tapped her fingers together, repeatedly, and her eyes couldn't focus on anything out of the window. Chloe reached out, slowly and carefully, and she grabbed a hold of Beca's hand and intertwined their fingers. She made no eye contact, knowing that Beca felt overwhelmed, which meant stress, and stress is bad for the baby. 

Her heart swelled when she felt Beca squeeze her hand and offer her a surer smile.

////

_ Six months pregnant looks really good on her_, Chloe thought as she watched Beca make a sandwich in the kitchen. She bit back a laugh when Beca crunched a hand full of _ Doritos _ in the bread. Some things never change, and the only difference now was the sleeping preschooler in her lap and Beca's precious little baby bump. It wasn't time to acknowledge other differences, but Chloe knew that her resistance was wearing thin.

"Dude, you gotta stop crawling into my ribs." Beca groaned at her stomach. "I'm trying to eat, love." Chloe laughed and looked back down at Margot, as she ran her fingers through her hair.

////

Margot clumsily ate macaroni at Chloe's kitchen table, as Chloe washed the dishes and hummed along to a quiet song on the radio. Occasionally she would look up from the suds to watch Margot when she took a break to color in the coloring book Chloe had bought for her, and she could swear that Margot was a carbon copy of her mother and that Beca was a printer. 

"Chloe?" Margot called.

"What's up, buttercup?" She unplugged the drain plug, and dried her hands on a dish towel, as she walked over to her table. 

"I made you somethin'." Margot announced, letting her red crayon fall to the table with a soft tap. She held up a drawing of three stick figures, a taller brunette with blue eyes - who Chloe assumed was Beca - a smaller blue eyed brunette with a pink tutu, Margot, and one stick figure that didn't match the theme at all. A curly haired, redheaded stick figure, with a green shirt and matching green pants - scrubs, probably - on the other side of Margot, holding her hand. It strongly resembled the picture Chloe had seen in Beca's apartment, and it brought tears to her eyes. "You like it?"

"Oh my goodness, it is absolutely gorgeous, Margot!" She sniffled and gently took it from her hands. "I'm gonna hang it up right now." Margot smiled proudly and just as Chloe walked over to her fridge, a knock came from the door and Beca walked through.

"Hey, monkey!" Beca scooped Margot into her arms and beamed at Chloe. "Hey, Chlo, how'd it go? She wasn't_ too _ much trouble, was she?" Beca grinned at Margot and looked back to Chloe.

"No, not at all." Chloe giggled and walked up to her. She pulled Margot from Beca's arms, with the picture trapped between her two fingers. "But you're not supposed to lift things, remember?"

"What? I can handle this monster." Beca kissed Margot's cheek, and set her purse on the table. "What's that?" Beca pointed at the drawing in Chloe's hand and Margot was quick to snatch it back to show her.

"It's us! I made it!" 

"My, my, my, this is beautiful!" Beca looked at Chloe with an amused smile, and the damn finally cracked.

////

Aubrey flew in from Mykonos, tanned and sun-kissed, with freckles adorning her cheeks, arms, and chest. The two sat on the patio of a cafe, that looked out on the busy street. Aubrey gushed about all the things she’d been doing in Greece, and how beautiful the island was, and that the water at the edge was so clear and blue, and that it looked like the water was on fire when the sun set in the evenings, and Chloe could only listen to how at joyful and fulfilled she sounded.

“But enough about me!” Aubrey laughed and smiled softly. “How are things here?” Chloe smiled at the thought of messy pigtails, and stick figure drawings that were taped onto her fridge, and midnight _ Oreos _ when Beca put Margot to bed.

“Things are… they’re _ amazing._” Aubrey wriggled her eyebrows and rested her chin on her hands.

“Oh, do tell.”

“Margot is so sweet, she is the most adorable little girl I have ever met. She loves to play Memory and dance and sing with me - she wants to be a ‘Ballerina Princess Warrior’ when she grows up - and I just love her.” the more Chloe thought of Margot, the more Beca appeared in her thoughts, and though Chloe tried to fight it, she just couldn’t. So, she stopped trying and the easier it became to breathe.

“I’ll have to meet her while she’s here, I saw she looks just like Beca.” Aubrey stated. Chloe’s enthusiasm struck up again at that.

“Oh my goodness, _ she _ so does!” 

The rest of the afternoon carried on with Chloe rambling and rambling about Margot, Beca, Margot _ and _ Beca, pictures of Margot, pictures of all three of them - looking like an unlikely, but imaginable, trio. And Aubrey let her.

////

Beca frustratedly tossed her phone back down onto the table with a loud huff. She could barely sit a comfortable distance from the table, her seven month old belly was now very well rounded and present. Though, at the moment, it wouldn't be wise for Chloe to mention it.

Chloe studied her face carefully, noting the way her eyebrows knit together and her dark eyes smoldered at nothing. She'd seen this look before.

……

_ Chloe peered over her copy of Anna Karenina, seeing Beca's nostrils flare as she furiously typed, fingers click-clacking on the keyboard. Chloe could hear the loud, angry baseline pouring into her head from her headphones, Beca's eyes never left her screen. _

_ Chloe set her book aside and stared at her until Beca acknowledged her. _

_ "What?" She snapped. _

_ "You sound like you're in some sort of typing marathon," Chloe said lightly, leaning her elbows on the table. "What's wrong?" Beca's frown deepened and she closed her eyes. _

_ "I can't do it." _

_ "Can't do what?" _

_ "This whole school thing!" Beca exclaimed. "Maybe sticking around was just a mistake, I'm not cut out for this, I can't-" _

_ "Excuse me?" Beca's eyebrows rose and she looked at Chloe, perplexed by her interruption. _

_ "Don't ever say that you can't do anything," Chloe said seriously, locking eyes with her. "You can do anything you want to do when you set yourself to it, I know it." Chloe reached over and grabbed her hand. "You got this." _

……

"Beca," her eyes snapped up and she nodded in acknowledgement. "What's up?" 

"The whole custody thing." She grumbled, rubbing the heels of her palms into her eyes. Chloe hummed and thought hard. Beca had a great lawyer - one of the very best actually - but there wasn't much leverage to be had since no one knew all the dirty laundry. And then, just as this thought passed through her head, it sparked an idea.

"Why don't you just threaten to give an interview and tell them he was cheating?" 

////

Chloe waited anxiously on a park bench, beside Stacie. Bella and Margot were probably somewhere on the playground, pretending to be pirates and marauding. Beca had court today with Luca, to finalize their separation, and Chloe crossed her fingers as tight as she could, that her idea worked and Beca wouldn't have to give up the kids.

"What are you thinking about? I can see the smoke coming out of your ears." Stacie teased.

"Beca had court today to settle everything and I'm just really nervous about it."

"You think he's gonna get rights to Maggie and the baby?" Chloe gulped at the thought and closed her eyes.

"God, I hope not." She shook her head, but they quickly opened when Margot and Bella came running up to the bench.

"Hey, Chloe, Bella and me wanna have a sleepover! Can we?" Margot asked sweetly.

"Please, mommy, please!" Bella chimed in. "I'll be good, promise!" Chloe looked over at Stacie, who gestured for Chloe to takeover.

"Well, little girl, we have to ask mommy when she gets back." Margot pouted. "But, in the meantime, how about some ice cream?"

"Yeah!" Her eyes lit up and Chloe's heart swelled with love. Margot threw her arms around her before she ran off, hand in hand with Bella. Chloe watched her run, her chocolate brown hair bouncing with her.

"You really love her, don't you?" Her head whipped to her left so fast to see Beca in her formal maternity clothing, with sunglasses sitting on top of her head.

"Yeah," Chloe smiled. "I really do."

"Good, 'cause she's stickin' around."

////

_ "You fell in love again, didn't you?" Stacie asked over the phone. Chloe's palms were already starting to sweat and her heartbeat accelerated, it was impossible. She couldn't be in love yet again, with the same woman for a second time. No, it couldn't be - except it very well could. After all those years not speaking because of silly, little, big feelings, Chloe had allowed them to be dug up from where she had laid them to rest. Or at least where she tried to lay them to rest. _

_ "Yes," it seemed different now. Not only was she in love with Beca, but with Margot. If Chloe ever settled down and had children, she could guarantee that she would be over the moon if they were anything like Beca's little girl. _

……

"Which color should I do the nursery, fern green or sage green?" Chloe snapped and looked at the swatches in Beca's hands.

"Sage green is really cute," Chloe offered, letting her focus fall to Beca's stomach, as she lightly rocked sideways, cradling and protecting the baby boy inside.

"That's what I was thinking, with maybe some lighter accent colors like gray, maybe." Beca quickly looked down at her stomach. "Oh, you like that idea?" She giggled and wordlessly grabbed Chloe's hand and pressed it against the side. Then, suddenly, a strong kick hit Chloe's palm and a smile rushed to her face.

"Oh my god! He kicked me!" Chloe exclaimed. Beca laughed and put her hand over Chloe's.

"Yeah," 

Color schemes weren't important at the moment. 

////

The sound of laughing children filled the walls of Beca's apartment, and the stampede of soon-to-be-kindergarteners ran amuck through the living room and playroom - Margot leading the pack, with a pirate hat and brand new "big girl" tutu, as she yelled "Charge!" - leaving all the adults to socialize and share small talk and pleasantries.

"Would you _ please _ quit doing things?" Chloe hastened after her, and snatched the tray of fruit Beca was carrying from the kitchen.

"I can do it, Chloe, this isn't my first rodeo!" Beca laughed and calmly took the tray back.

"Let me and Stacie worry about all this, you go and host, mingle." Chloe took the tray back and Beca gave her a challenging stare that make Chloe's mouth dry.

"I'm good, thanks." Beca said through a forced smile, her ears and neck were beginning to get red, probably hot to the touch too.

"You should listen to her, bean," both Chloe and Beca's heads looked toward Beca's mother, Elizabeth - Beth for short - Hale.

"Hey, mom." Chloe watched all the tension in her body ease at the sight of her mother.

"This is quite the turn out, why don't you let me take care of things?" Beth offered. Unsurprisingly, Beca took her mother's advice and wandered off somewhere in the apartment to say hello to different people. "Thank you for helping her, a lot has been going on, but I'm sure you know all that." Beth winked and squeezed Chloe's shoulder.

"It's nothing, just trying to be more present." Beth nodded and took the tray from Chloe.

"Well, keep doing what you're doing, because she sounds happier." With no further comments, Beth walked away and left Chloe there - in the midst of rioting children - thinking.

Happier.

////

"Hey, Chloe?" Beca asked from beside her, as they walked together, arms linked at the elbows. Margot skipped ahead, jumping from one crack in the sidewalk to the next. Beca was edging eight months, almost there but not quite.

"Yeah?"

"You wanna go to dinner?" Chloe smiled at her and nodded.

"Sure, I know a place Maggie would love, they have the best mac and cheese I have ever-"

"No, I meant, like, just us." Beca clarified. Chloe hadn't looked at her for that long, though she could swear she spied blush at the apple of her cheeks.

"Oh, yeah, sure, but what about Margot?"

"I was gonna ask Stacie to watch her." Beca replied easily. "So, how does seven-thirty sound?"

"It sounds great."

////

Chloe's mouth watered at the listed meals on the menu in front of her, but as she looked at each one, she noticed that there were no prices. That only meant one thing and she cleared her throat to not seem too startled about the fact. Beca sat across from her, wearing a maternity dress that was white at the top and maroon from her belly down, all tied together with matching maroon boots, and she looked so beautiful in the soft lighting, Chloe could barely focus. 

"Have you decided what you want yet?" Beca asked kindly.

"Um, no, not yet." She chuckled nervously.

"They have shrimp fettuccine Alfredo, and I heard it's really good-"

"Beca," 

"What's up?" 

"It's just…" Chloe leaned forward and motioned for Beca to lean in too. "There are no prices." She whispered.

"I know." Beca said.

"I…" Chloe found herself embarrassed. "I don't know if I can pay for this-"

"It's on me." Beca shook her head and dismissed Chloe's concern.

"Bec, I can't let you do that." Chloe argued.

"Chlo, it's the least I can do since you helped me so much with Maggie and everything in between, I-" she watched Beca's breath catch in her throat. The stuck look on her face smoothed out and a peaceful expression appeared. "I couldn't have done it without you, honestly."

"Bec," Chloe started, feeling nothing but adoration spill across her chest. "You could've just taken me out some random place, you didn't need to do all this." This time, Chloe saw the blush on Beca's face.

"I know, I just wanted to do something nice for you."

"Thank you."

"But can I be honest with you?" Chloe nodded. 

"Of course."

"Thank god you said that because I'm craving street tacos _ so bad_."

////

The two women sat on a bench at the park they frequented, near to the basketball court to have some light as they ate their tacos. When Beca finished, she set aside her small to-go box and leaned her head on Chloe's shoulder and laced their fingers together. 

"Thank you."

"For what?" Chloe asked.

"Just being here, I know things are different because I have a family now, but you are just so good. You're great with Maggie, she really loves you." Beca murmured.

"I love her too." A silence took over, but instead of being on edge or being comfortable, there was a palpable _ something _ hanging over them. Ten minutes went by without either of them saying anything until Beca softly spoke up.

"Chlo?" Chloe hummed in response. "I think I figured something out." She looked up at Chloe, her mouth opened to say something, but then someone walked onto the basketball court and began to loudly bounce the ball.

"What?" Chloe asked, trying so desperately to get her attention back to what she was about to say.

"I know what I want to name the baby," Chloe let out a breath and smiled. She could tell there was something else, but Chloe figured she would share in her own time.

"Oh yeah? What?"

"Andrew." Chloe smiled and rubbed her stomach.

"That's a great name, I love it."

////

Chloe sat in Beca's living room, scrolling through her registry and checking off the things she received at her baby shower. She could hear Beca straining to keep her voice level, being eight months pregnant and cranky about it is never good when it comes to arguing with a five year old.

"I know you want to stay, but we talked about this," Beca huffed. "Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are your daddy's days. You have to see him."

"No!" Margot shrieked. "No, I don't want to go!"

"Well, you have to." Beca answered flatly. "I don't like it either, but this is the way it is now."

"I don't want to go to his stupid house!" Beca didn't answer and Chloe listened as Margot said the unthinkable. "I _hate_ you! I wish I didn't have a mommy and daddy!" Chloe gasped and brought her hand up to her mouth. An eerie silence took over the apartment and Chloe listened to Beca's voice waver.

"I'm gonna finish packing your bag, and after that I want you to sit here and think about what you just said." And Beca did just that and walked out to the living room and sat on the couch, immediately bursting into tears. "She said she hates me." She hiccuped. 

"You know she didn't mean it." Chloe soothed, as she rubbed circles on her back. "This is just really hard on her."

"I know, I didn't want her to have to go through this." Beca sniffled and wiped the remainder of tears off her face. "It sucks." 

"You want me to try and talk to her?" Chloe offered, her heart aching for the woman.

"No, it's okay, I got it." She watched Beca walk back to the room, and as soon as the door opened she could hear Margot sniffling. "Hey, pretty girl."

////

Chloe dug around for her buzzing phone, as she read over a file at her desk. She answered without looking at who was calling. 

"Hello?"

"I'm having the baby."

////

Chloe picked up Margot from school, per Beca's request, and took her back to her apartment. Her mind didn't stray too far from her, the baby came a little over a week earlier than either of them had anticipated, so Chloe's nerves were on high alert. 

Margot sat in the tub, playing with a doll, as Chloe washed her hair. "Where's mommy?"

"Mommy is getting your brother, he finally got here."

"Oh." Margot continued to make the doll swim away from the evil shark - which was really just a small plastic fish - until Chloe had to rinse her hair. 

"Look up," she did as Chloe said and tilted her head up. Chloe grabbed her yellow cup and poured warm water over her head. "There we go."

"What's that say?" Margot asked, pointing at the cup.

"That says Barden University, that's where your mommy and I went to school." 

"Was it fun?"

"It sure was." Chloe smiled and thought of the first time she met Beca.

……

_ The sun was hot on Chloe's skin, and Aubrey was nipping away every last nerve one by one, but suddenly out of the crowd Chloe saw a young brunette with the most intense steely gaze she had ever seen. _

_ "Oh, what about her?" Chloe asked, before she could actually think about what Aubrey would say. _

_ "I don't know, she looks a little too alternative." Chloe dismissed her, completely ignoring anything she just said. _

_ "Hi, do you have any interest in joining our acapella group?" _

……

The rest of Margot's bath went on with Chloe telling her stories about her and Beca.

////

"You have to be really quiet, okay? Your mommy is really tired." Margot nodded and Chloe opened the door. It had been three days, Beca had been in labor for thirty hours and Chloe stayed with Margot at her apartment during the meantime, and Stacie made sure to get everything at Beca's apartment ready for the baby. Meaning she boiled all the plastic bottles and binkys, and put clean sheets on her bed. It was all just a matter of coming home.

Chloe pulled back the curtain and saw Beca sitting on her hospital bed, with a swaddled infant resting in her arms. "Hey, guys." Beca whispered. She tilted the baby toward Chloe and Margot so they could see his face better and she grinned. "Meet Andrew Louis." Margot walked up to the bed, letting go of Chloe's hand.

"Woah…" Margot whispered. Beca laughed softly and Margot gently stroked his leg through his blanket. "Hi, Andrew." Chloe stood near Beca and peered down at his little face. Andrew had a tuft of brown hair sitting on his head and a light frown on his face that already strangely looked like Beca's. He was beautiful.

"Hey, Andrew." Chloe whispered. She smiled at Beca and bent forward to hug her. "How did it go?"

"It went well, everything was fine," Beca answered, without looking up from his face. "He was definitely taking his sweet time." She smirked when she looked up at Chloe. "Thank you for getting her."

"Of course." 

////

The four of them sat in Beca's living room, Margot asleep with her feet tucked under Beca's thighs as Beca burped Andrew. Chloe sat beside her watching TV. A little belch erupted from Andrew's small form and Beca chuckled.

"There we go, big guy." Chloe glanced over and smiled. Beca caught her eye and raised her eyebrows in question and Chloe nodded, holding her hands out to accept a very sleepy baby into her arms.

The trio-turned-quartet sat silently, as Andrew dozed back off and whatever TV played in the background. Chloe felt Beca's eyes on her every so often and then Beca spoke up. 

"Hey, Chloe."

"Yeah?" She looked over and Beca was gnawing her lip nervously.

"I've been thinking…" She trailed off and closed her eyes briefly. "I can't imagine doing this with anybody else."

"Do what?" Chloe asked, confused by her statement.

"Taking care of the kids, and raising them, and loving them." Beca looked at Chloe seriously. "I don't want to do this with anybody else." Chloe's mind was going at the speed of molasses and she still wasn't understanding. Beca sighed softly and she twisted her body toward her. 

"I guess what I'm trying to say is: I… I'm falling for you, and the more I see you with Margot and the more you're here, it feels so right. You're it, Chlo." Chloe was stunned. "And I think it always has been... I see that now." Her jaw dropped and her heart stopped, she couldn't believe her ears, if she weren't holding a baby she would pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable-" Chloe carefully lunged forward and kissed her, releasing a contented sigh when their lips connected. 

They separated when they heard giggling coming from the other end of the couch. Chloe looked over and saw Margot covering her mouth. "Chloe and mommy sitting in a tree!" Beca amusedly rolled her eyes and shook her head at Margot.

"Oh hush, you don't even know how the rest of that song goes."

////

Chloe sat at the table with Andrew and Margot as Beca made breakfast. "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, Baker Man," she clapped her hands together rhythmically. "Bake me a cake as fast as you can! Pat it!" She patted his tray. "And roll it!" Then she rolled it and waggled her eyebrows. "Then mark it with an 'D,' and put it in the oven for Drew and me!" She clapped and the four month old laughed. Beca came to set a plate down in front of Chloe and a plastic bowl full of strawberries in front of Andrew.

"There has to be a better nursery rhyme than 'Pat-A-Cake.'" Beca teased with a wry smile, before she passed by Margot to drop a kiss to her head. 

"You know you love this one, babe."

"No, I just love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think.


End file.
